Description: Astros DH Chris Carter smacked his 37th homer of the year in Saturdays win over Seattle.

Insight: He has a weak average at .234, but his power is undeniable. Carter is now second in the AL in homers, with an impressive 87 RBI, with just over a week left in the 2014 season.

9/5/2014 11:46:00 AM

Description: Astros DH Chris Carter is a career .417 hitter with a pair of home runs and a 1.545 OPS versus Oakland right-hander Jeff Samardzija.

Insight: Carter is having his most productive season with a career-high 35 home runs and 82 RBI. He's been hot over the past two months. Start him.

Hot

9/2/2014 10:19:00 AM

Description: Astros DH Chris Carter is a career .364 hitter with a pair of home runs and a 1.144 OPS versus Angels left-hander C.J. Wilson.

Insight: Carter is having his most productive season with a career-high 33 home runs and needing just four RBI to reach the mark he set last season. He's been hot over the past two months, batting .278 with 20 HR and 48 RBI in his last 51 games. Start him.

Hot

8/26/2014 10:57:00 PM

Description: Astros DH Chris Carter has homered in each of the last two games and driven in five runs in that span.

Insight: Carter went 2-for-24 with 13 strikeouts before getting a day off Sunday, but he now has 11 homers and 28 RBI in August and 19 homers with 47 RBI since July 4 (44 games).

Insight: No injury that we know of, though he did strike out three times Saturday night in four at-bats. The slugging outfielder has become a force over the past two months and hit his 30th home run Tuesday to go with 72 RBI.

Hot

8/21/2014 10:12:00 AM

Description: Astros DH Chris Carter hit two home runs in three at-bats versus Yankees starter Brandon McCarthy the last time they met.

Insight: The former all-or-nothing outfielder has become a force over the past two months, batting .299 with 17 HR, 42 RBI and a 1.020 OPS, since July 1.

Insight: Since July 4, Carter has hit 17 homers and driven in 42 runs in 37 games. He's batted .317 in that span.

Hot

8/13/2014 12:49:00 PM

Description: Astros DH Chris Carter went 2-for-4 with two homers and five RBI Tuesday night.

Insight: Carter suddenly has 28 homers, fourth most in baseball, and a .230 average because he's batted .328 with 15 homers, 36 RBI and a 1.151 OPS in his last 31 games. Nearly everything has improved for Carter in that span compared to what he did the first 73 games. He's posted a lower chase rate, higher z-contact rate, lower strikeout rate, higher line-drive rate, lower infield fly-ball rate and higher HR/FB over the past 31 games than he did the first 73.

8/9/2014 11:20:00 AM

Description: Astros DH Chris Carter has been hitting the long ball, but should be avoided Saturday night.

Insight: Carter is 1-for-14 with eight strikeouts versus Rangers starter Yu Darvish. The slugger is built in the Adam Dunn, Mark Reynolds mold ... a home run hitter (25) with a low average (.225) and big strikeout total (122). Avoid.

Hot

8/7/2014 10:12:00 PM

Description: Astros DH Chris Carter blasted two home runs as the Astros built a 5-1 lead.

Insight: Carter is another in the Adam Dunn, Mark Reynolds mold ... a home run hitter with a low average and big strikeout total (119). His three hits Thursday still only brought his average to .225, but he has 24 homers and 57 RBI.

Hot

8/2/2014 10:02:00 PM

Description: Astros DH Chris Carter went 3-for-4 with his 22nd home run in Saturday night's game against Toronto. He also stole a base.

Insight: Carter is never going to be a high-average hitter, but he has batted .292 over the past four weeks with seven homers and 16 RBI.

Hot

7/28/2014 11:03:00 PM

Description: Astros DH Chris Carter went 1-for-3 with a homer and three RBI Monday against the Athletics.

Insight: Carter has gone 23-for-75 (.307) with six doubles, eight home runs and 19 RBI in July, but with 110 Ks in 309 at-bats this season he can't be counted on for long-term production. He's hit .214 with 21 home runs, 49 RBI and a .771 OPS.

Hot

7/20/2014 8:30:00 PM

Description: Astros DH Chris Carter has batted .306 with six home runs in July.

Insight: Carter also struck out 17 times in 49 at-bats during that span and 104 times in 283 at-bats this season. He's hitting .205 with 19 home runs and 41 RBI.

Insight: Carter (.194) has sent one to Souvenir City four times in his past four games and has 17 home runs this season. However, fantasy owners looking to ride his hot streak should think again with Yu Darvish on the hill Wednesday. Carter is 0-for-11 with seven Ks against the Rangers right-hander.

Insight: Both were solo shots. Carter has six RBI in his last three contests but is still hitting just .199 for the season. Until he can get that average up to a more respectable level, we can't endorse Carter as a fantasy option.

Insight: After going 78 games without a grand slam, the Astros hit two in a span of three innings on Sunday. Carter is hitting under .200 but at least he has ten homers and 27 RBI. The 27-year-old is owned in fewer than ten percent of ESPN fantasy leagues.

6/7/2014 12:31:00 PM

Description: Houston DH Chris Carter is not in Saturday's starting lineup. Jesus Guzman will be the DH against Minnesota and Kyle Gibson.

Insight: Carter is only batting .181 against right-handers with an ugly .672 OPS, so Guzman gets an opportunity. We don't like either hitters' chances on Saturday.

Insight: Carter has struck out three times against Richards, but that's nothing out of the ordinary for the power-hitting DH, who is batting .200 on the year and struck out a whopping 62 times. Still, he's got nine home runs and 11 doubles and could be a savvy play tonight.

Insight: After hitting two home runs on Wednesday, Carter went hitless in his next to games. The 27-year-old has always had good power but his .193 batting average in 166 at bats this season can't be too appealing to fantasy owners.

5/28/2014 7:45:00 PM

Description: Houston DH Chris Carter belted a pair of homers Wednesday in a victory over the Royals.

Insight: Carter's four runs batted in were a season-high. The 27-year-old has always had good power but his .200 batting average in 160 at bats this season can't be too appealing to fantasy owners.